Why Inbound Agencies Need Content That “Delights”

April 05, 2017

It’s no secret that content and inbound agencies go together like rama lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong, or peas and carrots or whatever comparison strikes a chord with you. Inbound agencies need content for their clients on an ongoing basis in order to establish them as authorities in their respective industries and to meet the objectives of their inbound campaigns.

Creating content that “delights” is a term coined by Hubspot, and although they have their own definition, you could insert words like “captivates,” “thrills” or even “slays” if you prefer. The point is that as an inbound agency, you need content that is going to get the job done, and you need it on a regular basis. Here’s why:

Target Ideal Customers

Every good inbound agency must create detailed “personas” that outline the features and characteristics of their clients’ ideal customers. You can call them a target audience or a prospect, but in a nutshell, they are the people your clients ultimately want to buy their products or services. “Content that delights” will speak to every nuance of these personas, so every member of the target audience feels as though it was written specifically for them, which it was.

Merge with Their Inner Conversation

Every time someone comes across your blog post, video, ad, or landing page, they are in the midst of an internal conversation. It might be about how to solve a particular problem, find a product or service that will boost business or answer a pressing question. The point is, they are having an internal dialogue and “content that delights” will merge with that inner dialogue and gently take over the conversation.

Some old-school copywriter types call this conversation a “trance,” but the name is not necessarily important.

What is important is that the headline / title and subsequent content speak to what is going on inside the prospects’ mind at that moment, if you want them to continue.

If you’d like to know what NOT to do, check out our post that shows 6 Ways Your Content Turns Readers Away.

Help Guide Them Through the Process

Since the end goal is to procure a new customer or client, “content that delights” can’t stop at the initial engagement. Now that you have them interested, you need to help guide them through the process. Merging with their inner conversation draws them in, then your content needs to keep them engaged, detailing the benefits of why they should be doing business with you. Every single person out there wants to know “what’s in it for me” first, and if they start to feel there isn’t much, you will lose them.

Compel Them to Take Action

Without action, there is no sale, no sign-up, no download. And you can’t just rest on the wonderful job you’ve done to this point and assume they will take action on their own. “Content that delights” never assumes anything. Make it undeniably simple for your prospects to take the action you want them to take, every time you want them to take action.

Of course, not every interaction business has with a potential customer / client focuses on a direct sale. But at very least, all content should be relevant and useful. Great content is not always selling, but it must inform and educate and engage wherever you are in the process.

Every good inbound agency has a content strategy, and it’s crucial to keep the age-old concept of benefits in mind wherever you happen to be in your process. In the end, “content that delights” promises a benefit to the reader, and as long as you keep that in mind, your inbound campaigns will always do well.

Savvy inbound agencies also know that outsourcing the content part of their inbound campaigns can make a huge difference when it comes to successful management and implementation. For content that is consistently high-quality, from a provider that understands the inbound process, give The Content Company a call at 888.221.5041 today.

If you’re like many people out there in the digital world, you love to throw a handful of hashtags at the end of each post, message or tweet. It’s likely true that most of you are doing it because you see others doing it, or have heard it’s the right thing to do, but do you really know why?